Distorted

Alabaster Penitentiary, Book 1

De: Nyla K

Narrado por: Michael Gallagher, Bryant Walker

This is Alabaster Penitentiary... Where they send you when the world thinks you're dead. And trust me, you'll wish you were. We're the stain on society. The freaks, the creeps, your favorite Netflix documentaries come to life. They lock us up and throw away the key, because we deserve it. But not me. I'm just a lowly bank robber. I don't belong here, surrounded by psychopaths and killers with no remorse... At least, I don't think I do. Getting by unscathed is my top priority. Unfortunately for me and my fellow prisoners, those in charge are more dangerous than we are.

You see, the guards run the show, and I seem to have caught the attention of the most twisted one. He has a name, but it might as well be Officer. We move around one another like a sun and a moon, revolving in an axis of confused lust and torment until the truth is distorted, and the thing I once feared becomes that which I crave; my vile addiction, somehow so exquisite. Reality warps in the dungeon, and I'm left wondering which prison is worse... The one holding my body, or my mind.

**Distorted is the first book in the Alabaster Penitentiary series. It is a full, dark M/M romance, with HEA. Each book in this series is technically a standalone, though they are interconnected, so it will be recommended to enjoy in order. Distorted is intended for mature audiences and open-minded listeners. Detailed list of CW's can be found here: authornylak.com/distorted-content-warning

©2021 Nyla K (P)2022 Nyla K

Cannot say enough good things.....

When Nyla K announced she was bringing Distorted to audio my anxiety spiked..... I am obsessed with this series and all of the characters in it. So, it was going to take someone with exceptional talent in order for me to be happy with the audio book. I have a very long commute on many days, so I listen to audiobooks ALOT. At the same time I have a friend who has been dying for this to come to audio because she gets migraines from reading. So she is an audiobook EXPERT. We both preordered this. She listened first/immediately and was blown away. I, on the other hand, had to wait a couple of days. I WAS ALSO BLOWN AWAY. I got to enjoy this story all over again with a phenomenally talented narrator as Dash (who narrates a majority of the book). If you haven't read the story and are going into it for the first time, just know it is a bit dark and there are a few triggers. If you like dark, you will LOVE this series.

On the fence with this one

Review edited after listening to it again before reading book 2 in the series, huge shift when listening this time! Changed from 3 to 4.5 stars (rounded up to 5 with the narration). I missed a lot I think in book 1 when listening the first time. Now that I know what was going to happen it read/listened way better!

So I loved this book until the major twist, I won't sugar coat it. I knew something was up, I thought maybe they had a split personality and was losing time but I didnt see this one coming (that's as much as I will say because I don't want to spoil anything for others). I will say some of the parts in the beginning were tough to listen to but I went in knowing it was a dark romance and I have read a taboo romance from this author so I knew they pushed the lines/limits and I have read much darker MM books so it didnt phase me. I thought the steam was incredible in the first 60-70%. The author really knows how to weave the steamy scenes, get us falling for a couple that shouldn't have been a thing/some non con/dub con moments, but boy was I shipping them so hard hahaha.

I think for me I appreciate bringing up mental health into books because my family has had a lot of devastation because of them and seeing someone go through it is so hard when you feel like you just want to help and just need to be there for them. I thought there were a lot of plot holes but some things made waaaaay more sense once you listen to book 1 and even more when you listen to book 2. I think I wasn’t too keen on this one when I listened to it the one and only time before because I felt things were missing/disconnected. It read better once you listen to it again, and some holes were filled in book 2 as well with the explanations. Now don’t get me wrong, some things still don’t make sense but I was so engrossed in this one when I listened again, to see if I noticed anything earlier on haha.

And I really did enjoy the side characters in this one as well, I loved Lex, Wren was hilarious, and I am suuuuuper interested in Rook and his dynamics moving forward. I loved the prison atmosphere and the bartering/favors haha. I was surprised there was so humor in this one (based on the topics and genre) but it was a great mix of steam, plot, humor, suspense, etc.

Narration was great (I did listen 1.5-1.6X speed depending on who was talking. I have listened to one of these narrators before and the other was new so it was fun to add another narrator to my good list haha. These characters were brought to life by these 2 performances. I felt the heartache, the confusion, the blossoming love, the conflict. They did a great job with their inflections, their perspectives. 5/5 easily from my for the narration ❤️

I am excited to listen to their audiobooks if/when they come out. I am certainly going to continue with this series, I love MM and MMF, this book had so much potential and the audio was fabulous so I would still recommend this author but this book had a lot of misses for me. I will say not knowing what was going to happen was a huge anxiety moment for me. Like I knew the shoe was gonna drop soon, just not how haha. It created a lot of suspense and intrigue!

🎧 Audiobook Obsession Reviewer - Flock Team 🎧

What A Trip!

Distorted is a book unlike any I've ever read and going in blind had no idea what was going to happen. I believe this is the only way to dive in. I was wowed at every new revelation and all that went on at Alabaster Penitentiary. It was a twisted unique story and I can't wait to continue with the series!

Excellent narration by Michael Gallagher & Bryant Walker!

Touching on the mental health issues and getting help.

Dash finding Kemper again and having to fight to get him. Kemper and Dash being each others first.

Very dark, very gritty listen with ALL the trigger

First up, a warning. This book contains a LOT of triggers. So, please read through the author's content/trigger warning page and make sure that it's for you.

Distorted is a very dark, very gritty read about a mysterious prison somewhere that no one seems to either know or care about. Run by a psychopathic warden and his select bunch of CO's, it's a horrific place by description on an island. I imagined it to be something akin to Alcatraz, but somewhere that it's dark all the time. Yes, I'm aware that my imagination is bleak.

The "romance" between Dash and Kemper had me on a slingshot. I was not okay. I had a really hard time with how it came together. Was Dash suffering from some form of Stockholm Syndrome? Maybe? In the end, the beauty that is Kellan Kemper and Dascha Reznikov is heartbreaking and breathtaking.

Quote from the book: "Maybe some things in life are meant to forever fluctuate. Like chaos. A perfect imbalance. And maybe even the distorted can be beautiful, when you really look at it."

The beginning of the book is hard to get through, not gonna lie. As you would imagine any first few weeks in prison are no cakewalk, but this prison is on a whole other level.

AAAANNNNDDDD then the ending is a complete mindf*😱😱😱😱 EXCUSE ME?! I'm pretty good at seeing endings coming, honestly. Especially in thrillers. However, this ending snuck up on me and clobbered me over the head.

I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook of Distorted and I was very impressed with the performance. Michael Gallagher and Bryant Walker did a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life. Both narrators have smooth voices and lend their own sort of edge to each character in the book, but especially the MCs.

Always check the TW/CW:
💥Violence 💥SA
💥Non/con 💥Dub/con
💥BDSM 💥CNC play
💥Homophobia 💥Slurs
💥Mental health 💥Degradation

Anywho! Time to wrap this up with the goodies:
Read: 4🌟🌟🌟🌟
Spice: 4🌶🌶🌶🌶